Tibs the Post Office Cat by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher

Tibs the Post Office Cat by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher
Buy Tibs the Post Office Cat by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Ruth Ng
Summary: A sweetly nostalgic story, that is lovely to share.
Buy? yes	Borrow? yes
Pages: 32	Date: April 2017
Publisher: words & pictures
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 9781910277201
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Set in the 1950's, this is a story about a cat called Tibs (who was a real cat) who was born in a post office, and who had a job to keep all the rats and mice under control. Rather than killing and eating all the mice, however, Tibs befriends them, and with their help he is able to apprehend some thieves, becoming the hero of the day!

I very much enjoyed this story, because as well as being a good animal story, it was also very interesting since it brings up a glimpse of the postal history with the Royal Mail underground train. This was a special electric train that travelled underground in London, without a driver, delivering millions of letters from Whitechapel to Paddington! It was abandoned and forgotten about for a long time, but is set to soon reopen as a museum! In the story we don't learn a great deal about the train, since it is just where the posties hold a party for some local children, but it certainly intrigued me enough to look up about it afterwards!

Tib's story is a sweet one. He arrives at the busy sorting office, feeling a little nervous about his role and responsibilities. As a kitten one of his best friends was a mouse! So he isn't too keen on the idea of killing all the rodent inhabitants of the sorting office. They are, unfortunately, creating havoc though by chewing through items of post! On his first night there, Tibs meets some of the mice and tries to befriend them. None of the mice have names and so clever Tibs tells them that he will give them names, if they will earn them, and to earn their names they must tidy up the letters and not eat them! Tibs finds them left-overs to eat from the scrap bin, so that helps them not chew the post up! The mice continue to be helpful to Tibs, even assisting in the capture of some potential thieves on the railway line!

The look and feel of the story is reminiscent, to me, of the Church Mice stories by Graham Oakley that I read as a child. There's something enjoyable about seeing animals going about their business when the humans aren't around. It also reminded me of the wonderful Shirley Hughes, especially because of the period setting, and the watercolour and ink pictures. Tibs is a sweet-looking cat, but the mice were definitely my favourites in the story! I especially like the page where they are all busy doing jobs, tidying up pencils, sweeping the floor, and scooping up poop! The artwork is colourful, and interesting to look at. I liked the picture of the old post office where Tibs was born, with the weighing scales, and pigeon holes for post, and jars of sweeties and a box of sugar mice. This is a lovely, gentle read that is pleasurable for young and old alike.

Further reading suggestion: You might also enjoy reading The Church Mouse by Graham Oakley.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Tibs the Post Office Cat by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Tibs the Post Office Cat by Joyce Dunbar and Claire Fletcher at Amazon.com.

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